Native American Heritage Month offers all Americans the opportunity to recognize and honor tribes who understood the value of wilderness long before European Americans ever laid eyes on bison or redwoods—or, indeed, decided to call certain places “wilderness.”

The Wilderness Act celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Sept. 3, 1964, the Wilderness Act created our National Wilderness Preservation System and a means by which Americans can protect wilderness.